Swiss Young Academy SYA
09:15 - 13:00
Location of the event
PROGR center (Zentrum für Kulturproduktion - Waisenhauspl. 30, Bern)Workshop "Teaching Tools for Bridging Science and Societal Partners"
Higher education is increasingly expected to prepare students to engage with real-world challenges and collaborate with societal partners. This requires innovative teaching approaches that connect academic knowledge with practice.
The Swiss Young Academy (SYA) project group “Innovative Teaching”, in collaboration with td-net, calls for lecturers and educators to participate in a workshop on tools for science-society teaching that will take place at the PROGR center in Bern on 23 June 2026. The workshop will take place on a half-day (09h15-13h00) and will focus on exchanging and reflecting on teaching tools at the science–society interface. Lunch will be provided at the end of the workshop.
The workshop consists of two parts:
Part 1 – Marketplace of teaching tools & formats
Short presentations in an interactive marketplace format, where a variety of speakers will present their chosen teaching tool or format, allowing direct exchange between presenters and participants.
Presentations will be given by the following speakers:
Priscilla Soulié & Martin Arles - University of Geneva & HUG (Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève)
Pauline Hämmerli - University of Geneva
Jialin Zhang - Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)
Frenzi Ritter - ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)
Marlene Mader - ETH Zurich
Gracia Brückmann - University of Bern
Arno Ratzinger - University of Bern
Sophia Aguet & Samuel Heiniger - University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HEdS La Source Lausanne
Pascale Waelti Maumier & Gurbir Singh Bhullar - BFH, HAFL (Berner Fachhochschule)
Maaret Jokela-Pansini - University of Oxford & University of Zurich
Nicole Bizzotto - University of Zurich
David Emmanuelle - EPFL (Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne)
Part 2 – Thematic group discussions
Group discussions will build on the tools presented in the morning and the themes that emerge from these exchanges. Participants will self-select into one of five thematic groups - prototyping, stakeholder boards, creative methods, role plays and games, and reflection on the science–policy/practice interface - to further develop the tools, reflect on key challenges and opportunities, and identify relevant stakeholders for promoting these teaching formats. Insights from these discussions will contribute to ongoing work on the td-net Toolbox, a digital resource for transdisciplinary teaching methods.
Registration
The deadline for registration is 5 JUNE 2026.